Scars Can Sometimes Heal
by starryskyondragon'sback
Summary: Zuko never expected to meet someone like her. And she never expected to be important to someone like him. AKA I wanted Zuko to be happy after Mai and I was irritated that we don't have confirmation of who Izumi's mother is. Thus, Siku was born. Also, angst and fluff. Because Zuko is a pill and can't just be happy but he has a happy ending.


The first time he met her, he was dressed in commoner clothing and she tripped into him.

Even before they finished falling, she was apologizing for being clumsy.

But when they settled in a tangle of limbs and clothing, he looked up to see her grinning widely with suppressed laughter. And blue eyes.

That was enough to give him pause. There weren't many blue-eyed people in the Fire Nation. Actually, he could count on one hand the number that he'd even seen.

"I'm sorry," came the words again, accompanied by a giggle she couldn't quite restrain. "You would think that being a firebender, I'd have better balance."

"You're a firebender?" he asked before he could stop himself. They picked themselves up and he noticed a scrape on her bare arm from where she'd fallen against the wooden support from the stall.

"So are you." She shook out her black-brown hair, dirt and straw falling, and saw the way he turned his head as though to hide the scar on his face. She turned, gripping his arm and forcing him to face her. "And I don't mean by that." She tapped his scar, noticing the undisguised shock that flitted across his face when she touched him as well as the slight flinch.. "It's in the way you move. You were trained in the army too, weren't you?"

"Yeah. Sort of."

She shrugged. "So was I. Sort of, I mean. I was privately taught until I was fourteen, and then I was shipped off to join the army. It wasn't so bad. We all have our own stories." They looked at each other, gold eyes meeting blue, their own little bubble of peace in the middle of a bustling market. No one paid attention to them, because no one needed to. "I'm Siku. What's your name?"

"Zuko." His real name came out unbidden and he winced again, waiting the inevitable.

"Zuko, huh?" She grinned at him, brightly. "Isn't that the name of the Fire Lord?"

He blinked at her.

"It's really complicated, much more complicated than would be appropriate for a conversation on first meeting." She answered the question on his face with another smile. He hadn't seen anyone smile this much since the last time he'd seen Aang.

"I'd like to hear that story."

"It's not much of a story. But if you'd like, we can meet up tomorrow somewhere for a sparring match and I might be inclined to share some of it. I haven't had a proper spar in months that wasn't tied down by rules or regulations but I kind of have somewhere I need to be right now."

He found himself agreeing and then she bounced off with as much energy as Aang or Ty Lee. He stared after her for a few more seconds before he flipped his hood back over his head to head back to the palace.

The next day, he snuck out again and met her outside of the walls of the city. "Why aren't we inside the city?" he asked as he pulled the cloak off.

"Well, we could meet in one of the underground sparring arenas but if I told you where they were, I'd have to kill you." Siku glanced up to see Zuko paused, shirt halfway off and staring at her as though trying to figure something out. "Kidding. I'm kidding. Wow, you're definitely army. Besides, this way we don't need to worry about burning anything down."

He shrugged his shirt off the rest of the way, dropping it on his cloak. "You don't seem all that concerned."

"The one thing the army is really good about training is control. Nice scar, by the way. Looks like lightning." She tipped her head to the side as she took off her shoes. He quirked his eyebrow at her actions. "Did you get on the wrong side of Azula or something?"

Her flippant disregard for his family bothered him but he wasn't sure why. "Or something. It's complicated."

Her lips lifted into a smile. "That sounds like a story and a half. Tell you what, we do a match, winner gets to ask five questions, loser gets to ask two. That sound like a plan?"

"Any questions, right?" He moved six paces away from her.

"Any questions. And don't worry. I'll try not to ask any overly personal ones." She winked at him, _actually winked_ , before settling into a less popular opening stance. He mirrored her, causing a broad grin to flash across her face.

And then she moved. He jerked his head back to avoid the thin whip of flame that snapped toward him and he punched out twice as he ducked.

She rolled to avoid the balls, foot sliding across the ground in a fan before flicking a wrist in his direction.

At first, Zuko was on the defence, baffled by the oddly graceful motions until he realized where he recognized them from. Katara. Siku moved like a waterbender. The realization sent him reeling back, but she didn't press the advantage for some reason.

As though waiting for it, she was prepared when his strategy shifted and then her motions took on more traditional firebender flavors, sharpening and remaining just as oddly graceful. He sent a gout of flame at her head.

She ducked under it and then suddenly she was right in front of him. One hand gripped onto the waistband of his pants, the other on his arm, and before he could react and shove her away, her foot snaked around and yanked his foot out from under him.

Just like the day before, he found himself flat on his back with this blue-eyed firebender on top of him though this time, they were both breathing hard.

"Well, now that you know what to expect, next time will be much more fun." He blinked in surprise to hear no malice or anger in her voice.

"Next time?"

Siku recoiled and he watched the joy vanish from her face as she got off him and took several steps away. "Sorry, that was presumptuous of me. I should know better than to expect people to spar with me after they realize that I'm not a 'proper' firebender. If you want to run screaming now, it's fine. I won't even ask any questions. We'll both just move on with our lives doing whatever it is we do and hope we don't run into each other so there won't be any sort of awkward reunion."

Zuko scrambled to his feet, and he grabbed her shoulder to prevent her from turning away. "No, no. I didn't mean it like that. Please don't go. I'm sorry."

Her blue eyes met his and he was startled to see the depth of sadness in them. "You don't need to do that. I'd just hoped… Well, never mind."

"You had five questions, right? And I've got two." He coaxed her into sitting on a nearby rock beside him.

Her head ducked and her eyes slid away. "Actually, you can have as many as you'd like. I really don't care."

"Okay. Siku. That sounds like a water tribe name."

She smiled, though the expression was neither as big nor as free as he'd seen in the past. "That's not really a question but I'll answer it anyway. My father was an officer in the Fire Nation army and he met a waterbender that he learned to respect. I'm named after her. You and the Fire Lord are about the same age, right? Were you named after him?"

"I-Sort of."

She lifted an eyebrow at that answer. "Well, have you ever met him?"

"A few times."

Siku watched him, a smile beginning to curl her lips as she took in the vague responses. The blue of her eyes reminded him of days spent hunting Aang and then fighting alongside him.

"Why do you move like a waterbender? You're a firebender."

"Water and fire aren't all that different." He gave her a disbelieving huff of air. "It's true. I mean, they're opposite elements, sure, but that doesn't mean the two aren't two sides of the same coin. Have you heard of the Agni Kai between Azula and Zuko?"

He blinked, flinching a little. "Yeah. I'm pretty sure that everyone in the Fire Nation has heard about it."

She hummed, eyes clouding a little as she thought back. "Not only did that keep Azula from the throne, thank Agni, but it proved that fire and water are actually stronger together." Her eyes cleared and brightened as she refocused on Zuko. "I only wish I knew a waterbender so that I could put my theory to the test."

Zuko almost offered to introduce her to Katara, next time the master showed up but remembered that she didn't know who he was. "So how do you move like one then, if you've never met one."

Siku laughed. "I never said I've never met one. I was actually trained by one for part of my childhood. And an earthbender. Hence why I don't spar with shoes." She lifted a dirty foot, wiggling her toes at him. "As soon as he was sure I could firebend, my father had me training under as many different styles as he could. It was really the only way to maybe bring our family name back into good standing, for me to be the best firebender I could be. I might not be the strongest around and I certainly wouldn't want to duel the Fire Lord, but you'd be amazed how much surprise can help."

"The Fire Lord has dueled waterbenders before. Including Katara." He pointed out, forcing the embarrassed blush from creeping up his face.

"Yeah, well, I can't imagine the Fire Lord being surprised by my bag of tricks." She looked up at the sky and suddenly stood up. "I'm so sorry. I've got to go. I have...things I need to attend to." Before he could stop her, she was gone, shoes left behind in her haste.

* * *

Zuko learned a lot about Siku's record in the week before he found her again. He learned that she was a passionate officer, though she hadn't truly been given the opportunity to lead until after he became Fire Lord. The men that now served under her, despite her youth, gave her nothing but warm compliments but were also generally regarded as the best team to send in for a hairy situation.

He hadn't realized she'd been the commander of the team.

Even before Zuko himself had rejoined his family, there had been an altercation between her and his sister. She hadn't been banished, she was too strong a firebender for his father to be able to practically do so, but she had been reassigned to the greenest team the army had and then sent to the front lines. He could only assume she was sent there to die. Instead, she'd single-handedly rallied her team around her, gotten them sort of into fighting shape, and then sacrificed herself so that her team wouldn't be captured by Earth Kingdom troops.

She'd spent the rest of the war locked in a dungeon, only being released when Aang had requested that all prisoners of the war be released and be returned home.

She'd returned to her not-green-anymore team with open arms on both sides, been made an officer despite not being noble-blooded with permission from the new Fire Lord, who'd only seen a record and no name to go with it, and was currently on her way to yet another promotion.

Yet Zuko had met the girl behind the record and she baffled him. How was she still so upbeat despite everything that she had gone through? Every time he asked about her, he received glowing reports from her inferiors and begrudging respect from her superiors.

But still, he could find absolutely nothing on her family and if anyone was lying to protect her, he couldn't tell.

* * *

"Siku, Fire Lord Zuko was asking about you again."

Siku paused in drying her hair, tilting her head to look at her friend and confidant, Hikari. "Again? I'm really not interesting enough to get the Fire Lord's attention."

"Do you think he knows about-"

"No." Siku shut down the idea firmly, beginning to braid back her dark hair. "It doesn't matter anymore. I served my penance for it years ago and people need me now."

"I don't think he'd care. He's reasonable. A lot more than his father or sister."

"I don't want to lose my rank. I need it. He cannot know."

* * *

"No, no, no. Come on. I know we can do this."

"Isn't that a waterbender thing though? We're not waterbenders. We're firebenders."

Siku blinked at him slowly, mischief flickering in her blue eyes. Zuko had realized months ago that even though they were storm blue, they had a proper Fire Nation slant to them. "And the two are very similar. We can at least try." Her lower lip jutted out in a pout as she blinked again.

He sighed, giving in. "Fine."

"Yes!" She wiggled around, cross legged, to be sitting more properly in front of him. The little ball of flame appeared over one hand, the other moving in a pulling motion. She played with the fire a little longer, waiting until she was in perfect control, before gently and slowly sending it to Zuko. He caught it and swirled it around his body, feeling the heat prickle against his back. Her eyes shone in the light as he sent it back to her. They passed the rope of fire back and forth, movements speeding up as they relaxed into it, until it was just a blur of heat and light and joy.

Siku was the one to finally drop it, her exhilaration too much for her body to contain. The rope blazed and expanded before extinguishing with a slight puff of smoke.

"We did it! We actually did it!"

For what felt like the first time in years, and maybe it was, Zuko grinned broadly, as caught up in their success as she was.

Until she leaped into his lap, arms thrown around his neck, and pressed her lips against his with a muffled squeak of excitement. He froze and what couldn't have been more than a few heartbeats later, so did she. Carefully, she pulled away, eyes wide like he'd never seen them. "I am so sorry. I didn't-Mmph!"

Her words were interrupted when Zuko yanked her back against the hard planes of his body and captured her mouth with his. Firebenders always ran a little warmer than even nonbenders but the heat that flared up between the two of them was startling in its intensity. It was only when they needed air that they pulled apart only for Zuko to rest his forehead against hers, eyes shut. Her hand lazily came up to caress his scar and he leaned into her hand. "That was...nice."

He felt more than heard the snort of laughter. "'Nice.' Remind me not to ask you to compliment me ever." He opened his eyes to watch her pull away, brow creased together. "What is this?" she asked, almost shyly if he didn't know her better. "What are we doing?"

Zuko didn't answer her right away, conscious of his secret that he should have told her.

"I don't know."

She ducked her head, concealing her face. "Well, we don't have to figure out right now. But I would like for you to kiss me again, if that's okay." She looked up at him and it was the unfamiliar uncertainty in her blue eyes that had him pulling her back to him.

* * *

"Sorry I was gone so long. Assignments." She rolled her eyes but he could see the exhaustion weighing her down. "The world tries to fall apart and it's my duty apparently to help fix it. Buuuuut," she grinned as she spoke, momentarily banishing the weariness, "I did get to meet someone."

Zuko glanced around them then dragged her into a back alley. She let out a muffled squeak when he pressed her into a wall, covering her mouth with his. Relief and eagerness mingled together and his hands skimmed over her body, fingers cleverly testing for any injuries or sore points as well as just to remind himself that she was safe and back where she belonged. Her own hands wrapped around the back of his neck and while one stroked upwards into his hair, the other tenderly massaged the tight muscles.

"Who?" he asked, breathless, when he pulled away.

It took Siku a few seconds to reacquaint herself with where and when she was. When she did, she chuckled tiredly. "Sokka, friend of the Avatar. I'm not sure I've ever heard anyone talk about food as much as him. What's wrong?" Zuko was tense and quiet, a frown falling subconsciously across his face. A mirroring frown filled her face as she studied him.

"Did you say anything about me to him?"

She arched an eyebrow. "I'd only just met him. Of course not. Not that he had any such compunctions. As soon as he found out I was a firebender, after I saved his life mind you, he started pestering me about a Kyoshi warrior who is apparently named Suki and how he hasn't seen her in months and how he was so proud of her for protecting the Fire Lord like she was. He finally shut up when I told him I didn't know a Suki."

Zuko exhaled a sigh of relief he didn't realize he was waiting for. "I missed you."

She hummed, the noise neutral as she stepped closer to him, arms resting on his shoulders. "I'll say. But I did miss you too, so I guess I can forgive you for dragging me into a dark alley where anything can happen."

* * *

She met his uncle when the old firebender was in town for Zuko's birthday. Like his nephew, Iroh bumped into her in the market while he was looking for tea. "Agni, I'm so sorry." The words were out of her mouth before she got a proper look at him. Her mouth dropped open. Her fist went to the palm of her other hand and she dipped her head, awe glowing in her blue eyes.

"It's all right," he answered, an amused smile on his face.

"Is there any way I can help you, sir?" The last word was quiet, hesitated.

"I'm looking for some Earth kingdom tea. I was hoping to surprise my nephew."

Siku smiled then, brightly, warmed to his utter lack of ostentatiousness. "I know a merchant who imports some of the best tea I've ever had. Come on. I can probably get you a discount." She winked at him and he laughed, following her through the crowds and talking about teas the entire way.

* * *

They were near the docks when a shadow fell over their heads. Their murmured conversation ceased and they both looked up to see a sky bison land on the docks. "There you are, Zuko. I've been looking for you all over the place." A young man hopped off the sky bison, blue arrow blazing in the sun. Siku's eyebrows lifted in surprise and then suspicion narrowed her eyes as she looked between the two. The tattooed young man pulled Zuko to his feet and into a hug as a young woman slid off the bison as well.

"Your servants at the palace said you'd gone for a walk. Aang couldn't wait." The young woman also embraced the suddenly pale firebender.

Siku slowly rose to her feet, feeling like she couldn't breathe. "Palace?" she asked, voice tight, controlled, not betraying the hurt and fear that flooded her body. All three turned to her. Her eyes focused on the young man, tracing the tattoos she could see and then she remembered them. "You're Avatar Aang. Which makes you Katara." Her eyes slid to Zuko and the pain on his face made her look away. "Zuko. You're not named after the Fire Lord. You are the Fire Lord."

"Siku, I wanted to tell you." He took a step toward her but halted when she retreated.

She snapped up into attention, her fist digging into the palm of her other hand. She bowed low, lower than almost anyone ever had, back stiff. "My apologies, Fire Lord. I will take my leave now."

"Siku! Siku, wait!" The pleading in his voice made her steps falter, but she didn't look back. Frustration, hurt, and fear swirled around him and he turned on Aang. "What did you want?"

Katara stiffened, eyes flashing as her muscles tensed. Aang lifted a hand, stopping her when she opened her mouth. "I'm sorry, Zuko. I didn't mean to...whatever it was that I just did."

Zuko forced himself to relax, pinching the bridge of his nose. "It's okay. I can fix this. I can do it."

Now Katara smiled knowingly, glancing at Aang. "How can we help?"

* * *

Siku paced in her quarters, seething and hurt. How could she have been so blind? Everything built up before she could blink and she stalked out of her room, heading for a practice ring. She threw herself into her motions, running through stances she'd learned, flames flying out hot and deadly. Normally, she'd have edges of lightning flicking with her flames but not today. There was no peace in today, just pain and rage and she ignored the tears coursing down her cheeks, tears that dried quickly in the heat of her furious onslaught.

Others watched her, baffled by the display as fire seemed to explode from her, smoke curling from her nostrils. But they knew better than to approach.

"Whoever broke her heart is in for a rough time," one bender murmured, eyeing Siku as she spun, flames snapping out around her.

"I'll say," came the reply.

* * *

Siku's face was completely emotionless, eyes staring directly forward, as she stood at attention in his office. "You wanted to see me, Fire Lord Zuko?"

He stood in front of her, hesitant. He'd seen the girl and loved her but now he was seeing the soldier and it hurt unexpectedly deeply. "You don't need to stand on ceremony with me, Siku."

"All due respect, I do, Fire Lord Zuko."

"Siku, _please_." Her nostrils flared, the only sign that he was affecting her and he placed his hands on her shoulders, feeling the slight trembling reverberate through her armor. "I wanted to tell you. I did. But it's been so long since anyone has looked at me as just Zuko that I didn't want it to change."

Her blue eyes slid to him, focusing on him long enough that he could see glimpses of pain, then her eyes moved away and unfocused again. "Then you should have told me, Fire Lord Zuko."

His temper flared and he gritted his jaw against shouting at her. "How would you feel in my position?"

Her head snapped toward him, anger flaring and smoke curling from her nostrils. And she was completely focused on him, the way a predator focused on prey. "What do you want to hear, then? That I thought you were a regular officer? That I was starting to have feelings for you? Actual deep feelings that terrified me, you know. Because this," she gestured fiercely enough between the two of them that for a moment Zuko was worried that she'd start throwing fire, "could never happen in a universe where I'm me and you're you. You have to marry someone who, I don't know, has proper Fire Nation bloodlines to give you a proper heir. Or, I don't know, a political marriage. Something. Anything but a firebender who has absolutely no justification in being where she is. You can't want me to be anything but your soldier."

Zuko frowned, taking a moment to chew on her words. If he's learned anything as Fire Lord, it is that sometimes it is better to think before speaking. "With your firebending abilities, how could you not be what I want?"

"Because I'm not a pure-blooded firebender. The eyes should give it away." She closed said eyes, inhaling slowly as though to bring herself back under control. "My mother was a waterbender of the South Pole. My father found her and fell in love. She got pregnant and then was brought to the Fire Nation as a prisoner." Her eyes fixed on Zuko with heat and pain and ice. "I was born in prison and my father took me away after my mother died. He raised me and kept my existence a secret from everyone but his closest friends. When I came into my firebending, I was young, too young to think of it as anything more than a game. And my father knew that if I had any hope of being a firebender who could stand against the weight of the past and his mistakes, I had to be different. So he broke a waterbender out of prison, and invited him to tutor me. Later, he found an earthbender willing to teach me. I'm sure that if there were airbenders around, he'd have brought one home for me too. I was a secret, and he was going to get me married quickly so that I could join the army under that name so that I had no attachments to him. And somehow, Fire Lord Ozai found out about me, whose daughter I was, how I wasn't pure."

Zuko didn't have to imagine his father's reaction. "Siku, I'm so sorry."

"I came home one day and found my father burned, but alive. He told me that Ozai had given him an ultimatum: that either I join the army and prove our loyalty then or he would banish both of us. My father, for all his loyalties to my mother, loved the Fire Nation. It was his home, our home, and it would have killed him to be forced to leave. But he was willing to so that I didn't have to serve with his tainted name." She closed her eyes again, inhaling, willing herself to be calm. "I was fourteen and I left that night to save my father. A year later, I fought with Azula about orders. Ozai sent me to the frontlines to kill me and hopefully take out some Earth Kingdom soldiers down with me. Two days after I arrived, I received a missive from the Fire Lord himself that my father had died in an accident. It was a month before I found myself again. The Fire Lord is _not_ the Fire Nation and I still loved my country. I trained the green troops with me myself because I would not let them die dishonourably. I taught them to bend without anger, without hate. The rest of it is in my record and I know you've seen that."

For a few moments, all Zuko could do was stare at her. Their stories were too similar and it was all too easy to imagine the bright girl forced to grow up too fast because of situations out of her control. He reached up to touch his scar. Siku pulled her glove off and rested her hand over his, fingertips just skimming the smooth, bubbled flesh. "My father did wrong by you," he said, eyes closing as he fought the urge to lean into her comforting warmth. "And I've been trying to fix my family's mistakes for the rest of the world but I guess I'd forgotten that people here suffered too. Please, tell me how I can make this right."

"You already did. You made me an officer when under your father, I would be dead at best or worst banished, even as young as I was. I can help the outcasts, the ones who don't believe in themselves. Like you." His eyes snapped open and he saw the heartache in her eyes before it quickly was shuffled away. "Zuko, Fire Lord Zuko," she quickly corrected herself, "I've known you for over a year and I knew that there was something that always weighed on you even if I didn't know what it was exactly. Why do you think we sparred so much? Whatever else was going on in your life, you were steadfast in your faith in your bending. I tried to give you my way of thinking, so that you could work through it from a different angle if need be. I lo- I tried to be whatever you needed because I cared about you."

There was warmth in her eyes now as well as quiet resignation. "How could you?" He turned away from her then, bracing his hands on his desk. "I lied about who I was. You weren't hiding anything because you've moved past your father's dishonor and built a place for yourself. How could you care about me?"

A thump came from behind him, something heavy falling on the thick rug. Then two slender hands wrapped around his wrist and forearm hesitantly. "Because I can see your soul behind your crown and I fell in love with it." He jerked around, surprised, to see her watching him with sad eyes. "And that's why I know that I have to walk away, because I won't let my father's past taint your future like it's tainted mine. Because you deserve someone so much better than a soldier who is more water than fire."

She took a slow, deep breath, and pulled away. Her hands tightened as though they didn't want to leave but then they slid off his skin and he was instantly bereft of her warmth. He didn't think, just spun and pulled her into him, lips pressing against hers. He could taste salt in the kiss, but didn't know if the tears were from him or her. "Don't go," he whispered against her lips, voice soft but rough, pleading.

"I have to."

"Please."

With a whimper he'd never heard her make before at his plea, she pressed her body against his, the points of her armor digging into him but he couldn't bring himself to care, not really. He knew she was right, that because of her mother, they were destined to never be. But at that moment, with her lips hot and wet against his and her arms around his neck, one hand sliding into his carefully done hair. He knew the instant she surrendered because she whispered his name, no title attached.

His hands slipped between them, pulling on the ties of her armor and after a moment's hesitation, hers joined in. The over guard fell, followed by arm guards. Desire and affection swirled within him and he didn't even notice when she'd undone his robes until her hands caressed the starburst scar on his chest. He shivered, goosebumps appearing instantly from her warmth.

"I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough."

"You're strong enough for me."

* * *

Every year, the celebrations over his birthday seemed to get more and more ridiculous. Zuko tried to keep the scowl off of his face, wanting to get back to work. There was so much to be done that he couldn't waste time on frivolities like a party, even if he'd managed to find some time for a small, simple gathering of his closest friends. But he still couldn't relax.

"What is wrong, dear nephew?" Iroh approached him, cup of tea in hand. By the smell, it was jasmine.

"I'm just...restless. And I don't want to be here. But I'd rather be here than be around people."

"Oh, are we not people?" There was a soft ripple of laughter in his uncle's voice.

Zuko flushed lightly. "No, you, you are. It's just...I don't know." He caught sight of Siku then as she tossed her head back, laughing at something Sokka had said. Aang had been the one to invite her, to Zuko's relief. At first. Now, seeing her dressed in red silk, nearly black hair flowing down her back, she was just adding to his frustration.

Iroh followed his gaze and his golden eyes twinkled in amusement. "The most lovely of flowers always has thorns, no?"

"What?" Zuko jerked his attention toward his uncle, baffled.

"Zuko!" Suki bounded up to him, laughing and cheery, so different from the person she was when she was a Kyoshi warrior. "So I know I shouldn't be bringing this up at your party and all but I'll be leaving when I get married. I'm not going to leave you unprotected so I thought that Siku would be a good option. Besides, she has some great ideas about fighting."

"I know she does," he muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"So what do you think about it?"

"I'll let you know." Truthfully, it was all he wanted, an excuse to be around her all the time but he wasn't sure that it was a good idea.

"Cool. Actually, she has a present for you. It was her idea, actually. Siku!" The Kyoshi warrior's bellow had the firebender turning to look at her, a bright grin still on her face.

"Is it go time?"

Suki nodded. Siku's grin widened.

"Katara!" The master waterbender immediately joined her. Aang pulled Sokka out of the way so that they stood on Zuko's left.

Siku and Katara stood side by side. It was only then that he realized that the two of them were dressed in parallels, though one was in red silk and the other in blue. His eyes met Siku's, confused when she winked. And then they started moving.

Zuko had to clench his jaw to keep it from dropping. It was a dance. That was the only way to explain it. Siku and Katara mirrored each other, their respective elements spinning around themselves and each other. It reminded him a little of the Dragon Dance but turned from the power of fire, it had joined with the strength of water. He remembered asking Siku once why she moved like a waterbender but now, watching the way the two women got the elements to dance fluidly, he understood. Fire and water coiled around each other as Siku and Katara spun, silk skirts flaring around them. It was beautiful and he'd never seen anything like it.

And then it changed. He hadn't realized that they were both barefoot until he recognized the form. His eyes widened, even the one held half shut by the scar tissue. He could now say he'd officially seen everything, a waterbender bending with firebender forms. Those kata he knew, knew them deep in his soul.

Siku's gift was the joining of two peoples, like she was. Balance.

Later in the privacy of his quarters, she danced for him again. It was the first time he told her he loved her.

* * *

Zuko stared at the paperwork at his desk. Reports were never ending even if not all of them were fighting related. His hands came up to rub his forehead, groaning. "Zuko! How's my favorite Fire Lord?" His head jerked up as Sokka entered his office, a wide grin on his face and mischief in his eyes.

"Busy. What are you doing here so early? I thought your ship wasn't supposed to get in until tomorrow."

"The tides must have favored us. Actually, I have a present for you, one that you're going to like a lot more than looking at my face."

For a moment, all Zuko could do was stare at his friend's face.

And then the sound of footsteps could be heard coming down the hall. Even as tired as he was, even as stressed and frustrated as he was, he would recognize those steps anywhere. He visibly perked up as Siku came in. She had a bandage wrapped around her jaw and dark circles under her eyes.

But she was alive. She was home.

He had moved from around his desk before he realized he had actually moved and stood in front of her, hands cradling her face. "You're home early."

She gave a tired laugh, rubbing her face into his hands despite the pained grimace when she did so. The rough fabric of the bandage scraped against his hand. "We finished earlier than anticipated." Her gaze dropped to the ground. Zuko felt the pulse in her neck jump against his fingers. "But they aren't a threat to you anymore."

He touched her bandage. "Did they…?"

"We sort of match now. No one died and mine was the worst injury. It could have been worse."

There was something else weighing on her mind and she stepped closer to him, clearly seeking comfort and he wrapped his arms around her. It was only then that Zuko remembered that Sokka was in the room. He opened his mouth to speak and realized they were alone.

And she needed him.

* * *

 _...It was only because of Captain Siku that we managed to put down the rebels with minimal civilian casualties and no losses of our own team. She was invaluable and if she hadn't been given leave from her duties guarding the Fire Lord, the events of this week would have turned out differently. Her injury came when she jumped in the path of a fire blast from one of the rebels, protecting another member of the team. Fortunately, there was a healer in the village nearby. I request that..._

* * *

Her face twisted in a silent snarl as she charged down the hall. And then she was on the would-be assassin. She trusted Zuko to be able to take one down without too much difficulty but two held the possibility of being caught off guard especially in the tight corridors of the palace. Fire lashed out from her fists, her feet. This was no graceful dance, this was aggression, everything that she'd been taught in the army.

Then Siku was in the assassin's personal space. She could have laughed at the widening eyes but didn't. Most benders preferred to stay at a distance. Two well placed jabs, courtesy of training from Ty Lee, and the assassin went down, stunned. Then she joined Zuko. Their fires blended together into one powerful blast and the second assassin wasn't even stopped by the wall.

He turned to her and kissed her deeply, heat still swirling around the two of them from their bending. "I thought-"

"It's my job to keep you safe so that's what I'm going to do. That's what I'll always do."

* * *

They weren't as secretive with their relationship as they'd both hoped. Sure, there were no obvious displays of affection from either and he continued to send her out with her team. Professionally, it was working.

But it was obvious in the sideways glances, the tender smiles, the overly fierce protectiveness. The more romantic members of court were bewitched by what they assumed to be their story. But no one dared to bring up that knowledge around either or their friends.

Siku sat in one of the gardens of the palace, munching idly on a roll. "It's nice to see him so happy again."

Startled, the firebender twisted to see who had approached. Battle focused muscles relaxed at the lack of a physical threat but feminine instincts tensed as Mai knelt gracefully beside her. "I'm sure I don't know what you mean."

"Of course you don't. I'm Mai, in case you didn't know."

Siku blinked at her. "Of course I know who you are. You are Fire Lord Zuko's former girlfriend, his sister's former sort of best friend. You risked your life to save his even after he broke your heart." The way her torso had turned was painful but she still made some semblance of a bow. "I am in your debt as is the entire country."

Mai's ink black eyebrow lifted. "How do you-"

The firebender's face flushed lightly and she dipped her head again. "People talk. He talks. He...misses you."

Now her eyebrows pulled together delicately and not for the first time did Siku wish for a lineage like hers. Ignoring, of course, the fact that she was so beautiful it was painful to look at and made her feel completely frumpy in comparison, but Mai had the pedigree that a Fire Lord should be looking for. But she couldn't hate the other woman, even if she wanted to. She'd meant it when she'd said that she was in her debt for saving Zuko's life.

"Even though he has you?"

Siku stiffened and her spine straightened out. "I'm just one of his protectors, Lady Mai."

"We both know you're not. I knew Zuko and I will always care for him but after he became the Fire Lord, I wasn't the right fit for him anymore." Now Mai looked a little uncomfortable herself. "You make him happy, or at least as happy as he can be."

"He does like to be overly angsty sometimes, doesn't he?" Neither could resist the smile. Then Siku remembered herself and the smile vanished from her face. "But I'm merely one of his protectors. There is nothing happening between us."

"Of course there isn't. And I'm an airbender."

Siku blinked. Then "I'm sure Aang will be glad to know he isn't the only one left."

It was Mai's turn to blink and then she laughed lightly. "He needs you. I don't want to see him become too serious."

"I'm just his protector and I try to be what he needs."

* * *

She vanished for five months, requesting leave. He'd been reluctant to give it to her until she promised to return and said that this was something she needed. Still, five months was too long to not see her and he missed her with a soul deep ache that he wasn't sure would ever go away.

But when she returned, she gave him a gift he didn't expect.

His eyes were wide as he took the carefully offered bundle. "She has gold eyes, not blue." Siku didn't quite manage to hold the tremor of exhaustion and something else from her voice. "And she takes after her father."

Zuko stared at the bundle, then at Siku. "I'm a...I'm a father? How-I can't-But I-"

Siku sighed, one hand resting on their daughter's nearly black hair, the other reaching up to stroke Zuko's scar. "If you say that you can't be a father, I will firebend you into the nearest volcano. Zuko, you know what not to be because of how Ozai treated you, but you do know how to be a father. You have Iroh."

Zuko swallowed hard. "What about you?"

She smiled though there was more sadness in the expression than he'd seen in her in months, even before the time spent apart. "I gave you what you needed. I gave you an heir. Aang and Katara confirmed that she will be a firebender. She won't take after my mother."

Zuko recoiled though his arms around the bundle tightened. "Siku, what are you saying?"

"I cannot be her mother. She…" Siku's voice choked up and she cleared it. "You can give her what I can't. And we can't be together again. No one can suspect that I'm her mother."

"Siku, wait. You can't be serious. How am I supposed to present her when no one knows that I love you?"

"You'll figure out a way. But Zuko, I made a promise to you that I would protect you. And I'd like to try to keep that promise, if you'll let me." She blinked slowly, her too blue eyes shimmering with the ghost of tears. "I'm sorry about this. I'm sorry that I wasn't strong enough to stay away but not sorry enough to regret our daughter. But I cannot be her mother."

* * *

Izumi grew up under the watchful eyes of her father and the Kyoshi warriors. If one in particular, a firebender with blue eyes, paid more attention than others, she never commented on it except to hug her Aunt Siku with the empathy of a child. Only Fire Lord Zuki ever noticed the tears that would well up in the warrior's eyes when it happened.

* * *

Siku didn't move quite as nimbly as she used to, but then neither did he. As the Fire Lord, Izumi had other guards to protect her and Siku had always known that despite everything, she would still leap in front of the man she loved above all else.

"I'm coming with you."

Zuko stared at her from a face full of wrinkles, wrinkles that she wished she'd been able to kiss as they appeared. "Are you crazy?"

"It's been suggested," she replied dryly as she approached the red dragon, greeting him warmly with gentle strokes against his scales. "But I am coming with you. And if you argue me on this, I will suggest to Izumi that she send me with you."

"Siku, I-"

"Zuko." The way she said his name, exasperated but amused, silenced him. "I promised you that I would always protect you. I am not letting you go off to that horribly cold place alone."

"I won't be alone. I'll have waterbenders with me."

"And they don't know what it is to be a firebender there. I do. I'm coming. That's that. Don't try to argue with me. It won't work."

* * *

He was grateful for her presence when P'Li was broken out of her prison. They'd fought alongside each other for so long that stepping into those familiar movements was the same as returning home. And he knew that she'd only stop watching his back when she couldn't any longer.

So when he was struck in the back, he wasn't afraid for himself, only frustrated with his old body that he couldn't stop them and afraid for her. He lifted his head out of the snow, watching the foursome drive away, before turning his head to see her lift her head out of the snow with a groan. He didn't realize how large his grin was, relief pulsing through him that she was mostly alright until her hand gripped his arm and she pulled herself toward him.

She kissed him and he went stock still there in the snow before wrapping his arms around her and pulling her closer, the heat of her bending melting the snow around them. "I still love you, you know."

"I never stopped."

"It's still my job to protect you."

"And I hope you never stop doing your job."

She smiled, wizened face displaying her own wrinkles more prominently but those blue eyes that had so distracted him in their youth remained the same. "For your sake, I hope not."

* * *

 ** _AN_** ** _: Four things. First, this has been unedited and the requisite disclaimer that I'm just playing in the world and it's not mine._**

 ** _Two, I suppose I could have made the whole thing in chapters but I'm so bad with updating them that odds are high that I'd go months with no updates and then post the Izumi paragraph "chapter". And then go months again. So here's the whole thing in full. Because it's more fair for anyone who reads it. Which, if you are, THANK YOU SO MUCH._**

 ** _Three, I just wanted Zuzu to be happy. And I tried to make it as mostly canon compliant as I could with the canon of the time that I wrote it (last year). If things have changed, oops._**

 ** _Four, I realized as I skimmed over this that I have no idea how they got together when she came back before the reveal. By that, I mean, how they got word to each other. I suppose Zuko would know when she had returned and then sent a message along a complicated grapevine. But, honestly, it's not important enough that I need to have it be mentioned._**

 ** _As always, let me know what you think. Comments, favorites (if you liked it that much), scowls, etc._**


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